A Wilder World , A Wilder Europe….

19 November 2012 | News story

…is as possible as it is necessary. This is the message of WILD10, a collaborative conservation process occurring right now that will culminate in the 10th World Wilderness Congress in beautiful Salamanca, Spain, 4-10 October 2013.

Hundreds of NGOs, experts, and government agencies are already involved in planning the practical and inspirational conservation outcomes that will emerge from WILD10 – all of them illustrating how we can all Make the World a Wilder Place.

The World Wilderness Congress is the world’s longest-running and most productive international, public conservation programme. Founded and guided by The WILD Foundation, the World Wilderness Congress has met on nine previous occasions in Africa, Asia, Europe, the USA and Latin America. It involves many and diverse perspectives – communities, business, science, policy, education and training, and more. The inspiration and creativity of arts and culture drives and shapes many of the practical outcomes of this programme.

IUCN is directly involved in the process through the Wilderness Specialist Group of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), and the participation of hundreds of members and senior leaders.

WILD9 occurred in Mexico in 2009 and was opened by President Felipe Calderon. 1,500 delegates from 50 countries were present on-site and another 10,000 from 100 countries were online during the week.

WILD10, like all of its predecessors, will focus on achieving practical conservation results through an inclusive, diverse, and positive style of operation. Previous World Wilderness Congresses have produced (and often pioneered) such things as: the process that created the Global Environmental Facility (GEF); many new protected areas and community-based projects; the first international policy agreement on wilderness (Canada-US-Mexico); integrating the knowledge and work of indigenous leaders into global environmental concerns; and much more.

The three main “pillars” of the planning are Planet (A Global vision for Nature Needs Half), People (Creating a Social Movement for Nature), and Prosperity (Valuing our Natural Capital). Already being worked on by many partners are such elements as the GenWILD (Youth); CoalitionWILD (Young Professionals); Native Lands and Wilderness Council; A New Conservation Vision for Europe; Communications & Technology in a Wilder World; Wild Cities; Science and Stewardship Symposium; Large Landscape Conservation and Connectivity in a Crowded World; Wild Waters and Marine Wilderness; A Nature Strategy for Sustainable Development; Conservation Writing and Photography….and more!